Some Gop Blacks Want Civil Rights Chairman Out

April 17, 1986|By Glen Elsasser, Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON — A group of prominent black Republicans called Wednesday for the immediate resignation of Clarence Pendleton, chairman of the U.S. Commision on Civil Rights, for opposing programs that require a fixed percentage of government contracts go to minority businesses.

Robert Brown, a North Carolina executive and former Nixon administration official, said the group was concerned that Pendleton`s recent statements might be interpreted as a reflection of other black and minority Republican views.

Pendleton urged the commission last week to approve a staff report recommending a one-year moratorium on minority set-aside programs, which he charged did ``mayhem to the Constitution.`` However, the commission voted to send the report back to its staff for further study after the White House announced its continued support of the programs.

Speaking on behalf of a dozen minority Republicans at a press conference, Brown said Pendleton`s statements undercut the administration and served as

``a great disadvantage`` to Republicans in this year`s election.

``We are tired of and will no longer stand for Pendleton . . . to be looked on as a leader of black Republicans,`` Brown said. ``It`s him or us.`` But Pendleton immediately rejected their demands. ``I understand their interest but I will not comply with their request,`` he said in a statement issued by his office. ``My position on set-asides isn`t new. It is consistent with my positions on race preference. I don`t believe people deserve a preference in this country because of race.``

At the news conference, Ben Andrews, a black city councilman from Hartford, Conn., recalled he had supported Pendleton when civil rights groups opposed his nomination to the commission. ``His views were not seen at the time,`` explained Andrews, a member of the NAACP`s national board.

As chairman of the advisory panel, Pendleton has been a leading critic of affirmative action programs that benefit minorities and women who are not the proven victims of discrimination. Atty Gen. Edwin Meese and Assistant Atty. Gen. William Bradford Reynolds have attacked such programs as reverse discrimination.